Tall Dark Stranger
by HR always live on
Summary: Another fic requested by forrestsc  Thanks!  Set in the middle of S9. A stranger comes onto the grid... Conclusion posted...
1. Chapter 1

_Another fic requested by forrestsc. This chapter is just setting the scene so I hope it gets a bit more interesting later._

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><p>Monday morning, Ruth thought with a sigh as she went through her work emails. Three weeks and two days since Harry had proposed to her and she had so foolishly declined. And now he wasn't speaking to her. Well, not properly anyway. Not the way they had been. He'd talk to her all the time about work issues, but there was always an underlying tension between them and she was getting sick of it. The pods opened and she turned automatically to see who it was. It was indeed the man she constantly thought about, but Harry was on the phone and didn't look in her direction. It seemed like a very angry call as well from what Ruth could understand from the one sided comments before his office door slid shut. She had to stop this.<p>

Focusing all her energy on Harry was doing her no good at all. If nothing else, it was draining. Shaking her head to clear Harry related thoughts, she focused on updating the MI5 terrorist watch list for the week. By the time she'd finished, Harry had emerged from his office with an angry look on his face.

"Everyone," he said in a curt voice. Ruth rolled her eyes, as for some reason they all gathered around her desk. Maybe they thought Harry was less likely to explode in rage if she was in hearing distance. Normally Ruth would have been cheered by the thought, but not today, when she and Harry had barely exchanged a friendly word in weeks. "I have just been informed by the sanctimonious DG that we are housing a transfer from Section A. We will be monitored to make sure that everything is working effectively. Apparently, section D has been run as a closed circle for far too long and this is "endangering national security." I have no say in this matter."

"How long do we have our uninvited guest?" Lucas asked, looking his usual menacing self.

"Permanently." Harry said breathing deeply.

"Why?" Ruth asked, hating being the one to break the silence, but knowing no one else would when confronted with an angry Harry. "Why now?"

"I've been running this section for fifteen years," Harry said still not looking at her, much to her annoyance. "I'm expected to have either retired or have died in service by now, so they're checking up on me. Apparently after the bomb went off in Whitehall last week, I might be losing my touch."

"There were no fatalities," Beth said accurately. "We couldn't stop the bomb on such short notice, but we evacuated the area. No one even had a scratch."

"Its an excuse," Ruth said and the started blushing when everyone, including Harry looked at her. She thanked whatever higher power was watching over her when Dimitri started talking instead, taking the focus off of her.

"She's right. They just want to get on the grid and spy on us. Report back to the man at the top."

"I never thought I'd see the day when I was being spied on by my own side," Harry said sadly. "Right, it goes without saying that you give this man nothing. No information, no intelligence, nothing. Don't lie to him exactly but just make it damn difficult for him to do his job. Is that clear?"

There were murmurs of "yes Harry," while everyone got back to work. He hovered by Ruth's desk and she looked up at him. "Do you need something?" she asked in a light voice.

"I want you to keep an eye on him," Harry said firmly. "He'll be spending a lot of time with you, trying to get all the information you analyse and reporting it to God knows who. I can't have that. I don't trust many people, but… you're one of them. Please try your best to put him off."

"Okay," she agreed. "Give me his name, so I can do a quick search for him."

"Something Miller. Chris Miller, that's it."

"Okay," she said, starting to type. Harry nodded once and returned to his office. As his picture came up on the computer along with his career history Beth had been walking behind her screen.

"Oh my God," the blonde said as she looked at Chris Miller. "That's who's going to be spying on us?"

"Yes why?" Ruth asked slightly confused.

"Are you blind? He's gorgeous!"

Ruth looked at the image again and shrugged her shoulders. "Not my type," she said.

"No, I suppose not," Beth said considering. "Your type locks himself in his office and drinks whiskey every evening while making sad puppy dog eyes at…" Beth tailed off as Ruth turned around, ice in her blue eyes. "I'll just…" Beth refrained from running to her desk but it was close. Ruth waited until Beth was sat typing before she turned back to the now infamous Christopher Miller. Now that Beth came to mention it, he wasn't bad looking at all. Tall dark and handsome seemed to be a description that was made for him. Glancing up from her desk she saw the pods whirring with their new arrival. She closed her computer screen hurriedly and erased it from her terminals history. He was bound to be as intelligent as her and look there, otherwise he wouldn't have been sent from the DG. She noticed everyone else was silent, the usual clicking of keyboards going quiet as they all looked at him.

"Good morning."

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><p><em>Please leave a review if you have a spare second! Thanks and more soon. xxx<em>


	2. Chapter 2

_All the reviews were very eager so I am typing as quick as I can and hope it doesn't disappoint anyone. First draft so I apologise for any mistakes._

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><p>Ruth got to work while Christopher Miller was in Harry's office. She dearly wished she could have been a fly on the wall to eavesdrop on that conversation. Or more likely, interpreting Harry's long and angry silences. She looked up when Chris returned to the grid and approached her. Making sure she was focused on her work, she didn't look up at him until he started speaking.<p>

"So Harry Pearce doesn't like me already." Ruth locked her computer automatically and looked up at him, standing just a little too close to her desk for comfort. Beth had been right, she thought to herself. Early forties and ruggedly handsome, with soft grey eyes and pictures didn't do him justice either. She brought herself back to the matter in hand with a mental shake.

"You've been sent to watch us and report back to your superiors," Ruth said. "Did you expect the red carpet treatment from the man you're spying on?"

"No, but a little civility would be nice," Chris said. She raised her eyebrows politely and internally sighed as he sat down next to her. "I didn't ask for this you know?" Ruth turned to him studying him closely.

"So what did you do to get stuck here with people who hate you on principle?" she asked, very interested in the answer.

"Are you included in the group of people who hate me?" Chris asked, equally interested.

"I think I'll reserve judgement for now," she replied a hint of a smile playing at her lips.

"Fair enough," he said. He rolled his chair away from her and turned on the computer that had been assigned to him. "I was a little too loud in my critical judgement of the way the anti terrorism wing had been acting within MI5 recently. I mentioned it to the wrong people. To answer your question, that's why I'm here."

Ruth watched him type and saw his screen light up with multiple windows following each individuals computer and the information they were currently dealing with. "So you're just going to keep watching whatever any of us do?" she asked bewildered that he had turned silent and didn't seem to want more information from her.

"Among other things," he said enigmatically. The silence spread between them but Ruth had a feeling the conversation wasn't over as she typed quickly, checking the French security for the Channel Tunnel. "Can I ask you something personal?"

"You can ask," Ruth said keeping her eyes fixed on the computer screen.

"I see you don't wear a wedding ring." Ruth felt her left hand curl into a fist without her willing it and the heat flood into her face.

"That isn't a question."

"Okay," he countered. "How is it that a beautiful woman like yourself is still single? That's a question."

"I'm not answering that because it isn't any of your business," she said after a moments silence in what she hoped was a cold and detached voice. She glanced at him and hated the confident smile he wore on his, admittedly, rather handsome face. But she hated it even more when an answering smile reluctantly formed on her own lips before she even realised it. Determined not to speak to him unless it was positively necessary she got on with working. Her usual glance to Harry's office was missed, and Harry noticed.

He had been watching out of a crack in his blinds to start with because he wanted to see what Christopher would do. This stranger in the midst of their tightly knit group. But as he started having a conversation with Ruth, Harry couldn't tear his eyes away. She was smiling at Chris. Actually smiling in a way she hadn't done in years. And it wasn't a ploy to get him to trust her, Harry could tell because the smile reached her eyes, sparkling in her gorgeously blue, honest and beautiful eyes. When the conversation finished Harry watched for a minute more before it became clear nothing else was going to happen. Sadly, he thought to himself, it was too early for whisky.

He let the blinds spring back into place and knew that Ruth hadn't thrown his office a single glance, and he hated that. She had always looked at his office window much more often than she should do, and he loved it that way. Because even if she didn't put it into words, her actions showed him that he meant more than just her employer. When she had said no to his proposal a few weeks before he was hurt beyond description, but he had somehow assumed that they would eventually muddle through and end up together, no matter how long it took. But the way she had glanced at this stranger made his blood boil in fury. And what was worse, she had every right to look at another man if she wished to. He knew that Ruth didn't show her emotions, she never had, so he knew that to her, a simple glance meant a lot more than it would have done with other women.

Harry had known, or guessed that this new worm on the grid would spend a lot of his time with Ruth. She was the most senior member of the team apart from himself, and the main analyst. All of the information went through her, so that didn't surprise him. It also didn't surprise him that she was being friendly. It would help them in the long run if he could be trusted not to leak vital information. What hurt him like daggers twisting in the flesh of his back was the fact her behaviour was genuine. Her smile was real. And the worst thing? He hadn't been the one to make her look like that. He looked at his watch again. Too early for whisky, but he was going to have one anyway. A large one.


	3. Chapter 3

_I do actually have a vague idea how this story is going to go along now. Anyway, short little update..._

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><p>It was exactly midday when Ruth left the grid to go down to registry and collect a host of files they needed. Chris leant back on his chair, watching her departing figure as his eyes looked her up and down. Not bad at all he thought to himself. "Is she seeing anyone?" he asked to no one in particular as the pods closed around Ruth. He turned and saw Harry who's hands had frozen flicking through a sheaf of paper he was meant to be reading.<p>

"Who?" he said in a low voice, his eyes burning a hole in the paper he was clutching onto for dear life. Unfortunately Chris didn't see the warning signs, focusing as he was on the beautiful woman who had just left his eyesight.

"Ruth Evershed," Chris said, turning his chair to finally face Harry who was still studying the papers in his hands.

"Why are you asking me?" Harry asked, still not facing him.

"Because you were the one standing here," Chris said honestly.

"I don't discuss any personal matters about my staff," he said. Looking up from his hands he glared at Chris, pure hatred boiling in his brown eyes. Chris looked completely bewildered at this reaction. All he'd done is ask about Ruth. He hadn't sold himself out to Al Queda! "I have work to do," Harry added, storming back to his office, just refraining from running.

"My God I've made an impression there," Chris said as his office door slammed shut. Dimitri, who had been passing looked in the direction Chris indicated.

"Yeah, he isn't going to like you on principle," Dimitri said. "And you've committed a fatal error as well."

"What's that?" Chris asked, genuinely interested in how he could have upset Harry so seriously so quickly.

"You're looking at Ruth."

"So what?" Chris said blankly.

"I just wouldn't," Dimitri said. He didn't know their history as he had only been here a few weeks himself and he didn't want to. It was enough for him to know that getting in between Harry and Ruth was a very bad idea. But if this guy wanted to do it the hard way, that was his decision.

"Oh, has he got a fantasy about her?" Chris asked. "Last fling of his career, something like that? Going for the younger woman he knows he can't have?"

"Stay out of it," Dimitri advised before leaving Chris to get on with some of his own work.

"This is crazy," he said to himself shaking his head.

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><p>Back in his office Harry looked at the half empty whisky bottle and thought he'd really had enough as the day hadn't yet squeezed much past noon. "Is she seeing anyone?" the words kept reverberating around his head around and around on a never ending circle of torture. In an ideal world he'd have been able to reply "Actually she's married." Or "That's my wife you're talking about." Either would have been very satisfactory to say to that jumped up idiot. He collapsed into his chair and grunted at the knock on the door. He straightened up when Ruth came in.<p>

"God, what is it?" he asked seriously. "You knocked," he added in the silence.

"Nothings wrong," she said in her soft voice that he found so irresistible. "I'm just a little… worried about you today. You seem… off."

"I don't like that man," Harry admitted, though not the real reason why.

"You were never going to like him, because of the reason he's here," she said accurately. Harry didn't acknowledge she had a point. "He didn't ask for this and he's actually quite nice."

"Perfect," Harry grumbled.

She sighed, knowing this wasn't going to get anywhere, not when he was in a mood like this. She turned to the door and then stopped facing him. "I know its not my place and none of my business at all, but… I do think maybe you shouldn't drink so much when you're at work. Its only twelve." She blushed because she didn't feel comfortable criticising any aspect of him but the whisky bottle had been sitting in the middle of his desk. He looked at her, eyes soft as they went over her face.

"I know," he said in the light voice he reserved just for her. "Thank you." She nodded and then closed his door behind her. Harry closed his eyes and prayed for sanity


	4. Chapter 4

It was past five that afternoon and people were starting to slip away and Chris had a look around the grid at everyone else. They weren't overly busy and Harry was letting people go home. Chris knew that a five o'clock finish was an early one for them, even after just one day here. He turned to Ruth next to him, who was still typing quickly, oblivious to the fact that the end of the day was fast approaching.

"Ruth, do you want to get a drink with me tonight?" Chris asked and he was pleased that she was surprised enough that her hands stilled completely. She turned and looked at him, thinking what on earth to say to that.

"I don't think that would be the best idea," she said slowly.

"Give me one good reason why you don't want to go," Chris said calmly, his smile annoyingly confident.

"I just can't," she said, not wanting to get into too much detail about why not. Her personal life was none of his business after all, no matter how interested he seemed to be about her personally.

"Okay," Chris said. "But I do think you can't sit here and work all night.

"How do you know that's what I was going to do?" Ruth asked with a questioning look on her face.

"I don't know, you just have that look." Chris looked at her knowingly and she let a smile colour her face.

"Fine, I will shut my computer down, because it is a slow day and go home. Alone," she added as he raised an eyebrow suggestively. He laughed out loud. She didn't but she did have a broad smile on her face as she started to close her computer down. Chris kept talking but her attention wasn't really on him. She looked into Harry's office and saw the gap in the blinds as he held them apart. He was watching her but the strange thing was he didn't stop once she'd acknowledged his attention. He just kept staring. She flushed, unused to such clear attention from him and she stood, pulling her coat on. Chris looked at her with a grin and asked, "Shall we go?"

"No matter how devilish your smile or how much you push your luck, I'm not going home with you tonight.

"Of course not, you're a lady," he said, voicing his honest opinion. "Never hurts to indulge in fantasy though does it?" He was so forward that she let out a half laugh to spare herself from saying anything in reply, half blushing as they left through separate pods.

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><p>Harry watched them leave together and was absolutely seething. It wasn't fair that a stranger could make Ruth smile like that. Make her look so happy. How could another man make <em>his<em> Ruth's eyes sparkle. It wasn't right. It was so far wrong that he felt like punching something. Was she going out with him tonight? They'd left together after all and Ruth never left this early. That indicated an evening spent together. Harry shook his head because after that thought came some very vivid half images of a naked Ruth writhing with passion with another man. The thought had him breathing heavily, trying to push it away.

Looking around the grid he knew there was nothing to stay for so he decided to go home and get drunk. It seemed as good a plan as any. Or at least, that is what he had intended. Switching off the engine in his parking space. He realised his house wasn't as empty as he'd left it. He couldn't have explained how but he knew someone was in there. Reaching over to the glove compartment he pulled out his handgun and made sure it was loaded. He walked up to his house, like he normally would, keys in left hand, gun in right. Unlocking the door he carefully walked through the hallway and into his kitchen gun raised. He sighed with relief when he saw who was sitting at his table and lowered the gun, placing it on the side.

"You shouldn't break in to people's houses," Harry said simply.

"It was hardly breaking and entering, Harry. You really need to get the security raised on this house," Malcolm replied taking a sip of his tea, which he'd clearly helped himself to. "It only took me five minutes to break in and reset the alarm. Clearly my replacement isn't up to the job."

"Tariq doesn't go near my house," Harry said firmly. "I could have shot you, you realise that?" Malcolm shrugged, as if knowing Harry wouldn't have shot first, even if he had been an intruder. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I heard you could use a friend." Harry sighed thinking of all the things that could be deduced from that sentence. Someone had called him, letting Malcolm know of the current Ruth / Harry predicament now involving the newcomer Chris. He supposed he should feel insulted that a member of his team had called an outsider, but he didn't have it in him.

"Do you want a drink?"

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><p><em>I'm finding this story surprisingly difficult to write, but I hope it doesn't show. Thanks for all the reviews so far, they are keeping me sane. xxx<em>


	5. Chapter 5

_Thanks for all the lovely support, and as a treat here's the next little installment. Also thanks to threesummerdays, who gave me one of the closing lines of this chapter._

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><p>Malcolm and Harry were sitting in his living room, working their way through a bottle of scotch. "While I appreciate the chance to drink a fine single malt with an old friend, do you mind telling me why I'm here?" Malcolm asked draining his glass.<p>

"Who called you?" Harry asked, eager to know.

"I'm not telling you," Malcolm said with a smile.

"Fine," Harry conceded, knowing at some point the would find out anyway. "I would imagine that you're here because of the… situation with Ruth." "You two still haven't sorted yourselves out have you?" Malcolm said knowingly.

"I tried," Harry said. He'd drunken more than was wise and could tell it was loosening his tongue. "She isn't interested in me Malcolm. She might have been once but not anymore."

"And what gives you that incorrect impression?" he replied simply, adding a splash more alcohol to his own glass before Harry took the bottle.

"Its not incorrect. I asked her to marry me and she said no. What more proof do you need?"

"Harry, you asked her at a funeral," he admonished lightly. "Did you think that was a good idea?"

"How did you know about that?"

"I meet up with Ruth every now and again ever since I left the service," Malcolm admitted. "I hated missing Ros's funeral so I went to pay my respects to her a few days later and Ruth joined me. She mentioned it then."

"What else did she tell you?" Harry asked quietly, eyes filled with sadness.

"That she had regrets and that day was at the top of the list."

"She didn't say that," Harry countered.

"No she didn't," Malcolm admitted. "But I could tell. I could see it in her eyes. She has so much sadness there Harry."

"I know," he replied. "Not today. New man on the grid, Christopher Miller seems to have taken her fancy."

"You are determined to feel sorry for yourself aren't you?" Malcolm said slightly amused.

"That's what alcohol is for," Harry replied, downing his drink in one.

"Trust me, she'll come back to you. In time."

"Mm," Harry said disheartened.

"If you love someone, set them free," Malcolm started. Harry smiled wistfully and continued the quote.

"If they come back to you, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were." Harry leaned back on his chair and his eyes were beginning to drift shut. Once closed Malcolm got up and put both glasses and the bottle on a side table.

"Trust her Harry," the retired spook whispered before quietly leaving the house.

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><p>That night Ruth was laying restless in bed. She couldn't sleep, which wasn't exactly unusual for her, but still annoying. Her mind flitted to the day at work and the most different aspect. Namely Chris. It wasn't that she was attracted to him, it was simply the difference of open admiration. She had never really had that before. Every man she had ever been interested in kept his thoughts to himself, Harry more so than anyone she'd ever met. It was nice and a novel feeling for her. To feel wanted. But Chris wasn't the one who made butterflies appear in her stomach. He wasn't the one who made her blood pressure rise with a raised eyebrow. It was Harry plain and simple. There was no other man for her in her life. No one else could even come close. No one else had the ability to wreck a marriage proposal so completely and totally.<p>

"Stupid man," she said under her breath, rolling over and punching her pillow, attempting to get at least a few hours sleep.

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><p><em>I was checking the "set them free" quote and came across this one which I thought so wonderfully Harry and Ruth I had to share it... Both quotes used here are anonymous.<em>

"I don't pretend to know what love is for everyone, but I can tell you what it is for me; love is knowing all about someone, and still wanting to be with them more than any other person, love is trusting them enough to tell them everything about yourself, including the things you might be ashamed of, love is feeling comfortable and safe with someone, but still getting weak knees when they walk into a room and smile at you."


	6. Chapter 6

The next day at work started similarly to the day before. With the exception of the fact that Harry was suffering from a major hangover with bloodshot eyes and a pounding head. Not exactly the way he wanted to look when he was trying to impress Ruth. He drew the blinds and spent the morning hours locked away in his office, and he resisted the temptation to look at Ruth and Chris until at least one o'clock. When he did, there was nothing there to see. What he didn't know was that he had missed their earlier conversation.

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><p>They had been working together for an hour or so when Chris paused in his typing and turned to Ruth. "Good night?"<p>

She had a half quirked smile at him, debating whether to tell him the honest answer that she had curled up with a good book and some hot chocolate before rolling in bed sleeplessly until two in the morning. She settled for, "not bad." He was smiling at her in a way that made her feel uncomfortable so she continued with what she had intended to say. She'd spent her sleepless hours thinking about it. Making sure no one else was listening she turned and started to speak.

"Listen, when I said no to going out with you last night, I'm not playing a game with you. I'm not playing hard to get," she said slowly. "I'm not available."

"You're with someone?" he asked waiting for her to reply.

"You're not making this easy are you?"

"No." he said simply making her smile.

"I suppose, I'm not in a relationship, but I'm still not available."

"So who is it, who's captured your heart?" Chris asked after a moments silence. "

"That's speculation," Ruth replied.

"Mm," Chris agreed. "Its bloody accurate too." Ruth laughed and made doubly sure no one (meaning Harry) was listening. "Well, the only males here, apart from myself, devilishly handsome as I am are Tariq, Dimitri, Lucas and Harry who has yet to do more than grunt in my direction. Tariq doesn't look up from his computer and he is far too young for you.

"Oh that makes me feel great," she interrupted sarcastically.

"I'd say that Dimitri could be a vague possibility, if it wasn't for the fact that his eyes keep hovering over a certain blonde's cleavage when he thinks no ones looking." Ruth smiled at the accurate description. She'd noticed that about Dimitri and Beth too. "Which leaves silent and brooding Lucas or enigmatic Harry who has a love of whisky and a hatred of me." Chris paused. "Maybe the hatred of me is linked to the fascinating subject we're discussing. So I'd say Harry. Am I right?"

"You know I really want to hate you!" Ruth said loud enough to get everyone's attention.

"I take that as a yes then."

"You're a spy for the DG on section D, too charming for your own good and casting horrible speculation on my personal life. Why don't I hate you?"

"At least I made an impression," he said with a smile. Ruth shook her head and began typing again.

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><p>At the end of the day everyone was getting ready to leave when Harry emerged from his office, looking much less hung-over than previously. "Chris, I'd like a word with you before you leave." Everyone looked at the new arrival except Ruth who stared at Harry. His face gave nothing away as he stared at them all. Chris looked at Ruth and before she realised anything at all he leaned in and kissed her cheek. There was a deathly hush as everyone stared at her flaming face, trying not to look at Harry.<p>

"You never know, it might help you," he whispered into her ear.

"Mr Miller," Harry said in a critical voice. Chris turned to him and everyone left the grid in a flurry of activity. Ruth, still with a red face felt so ashamed that she couldn't even look at Harry before vanishing. Chris followed Harry to his office and the door shut with a loud snap.


	7. Chapter 7

_These chapters seem to be getting smaller and smaller, but I didn't want to leave you in suspense for too long... Enjoy!_

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><p>Chris looked at Harry and wondered whether kissing Ruth had been the best idea on the planet. Harry had an expression which made Chris feel he was trapped with a caged lion. The look on his face alone made it clear how much he valued his head analyst, and not just professionally.<p>

"Is there a problem?" Chris asked.

"What are you reporting back to your superiors?" Harry asked, staring at Chris with intense dislike.

"At the moment that things are running as they should be," Chris said honestly. "And that Tariq Masood has got one over on me, I can't see a thing he's working on, he's managed to block me out completely and I can't work out how he's doing it." Harry looked slightly amused at that but the smile didn't last long.

"I would appreciate it if you kept your personal life out of this building," Harry said slowly in a dangerous voice.

"I'm not doing anyone any harm," he said, wanting to see how far he could push Harry without an explosion happening.

"Leave her alone!" Harry shouted. He was breathing heavily and knew he shouldn't have snapped at him, but he just couldn't help it.

"Ruth?" Chris questioned. "She told me she was single, and she doesn't seem to mind my attentions."

"Well she isn't single," Harry said before he could think about it. "She's with me. We're keeping it quiet because we don't want others gossiping. Leave her alone before I start to get violent."

"I'm sorry," Chris said completely embarrassed. "I'd never have gone near her if I'd known she was taken. I'm sorry." Harry wanted to take it back, to say that it wasn't true but he didn't have it in him. He didn't have the energy. Chris kept apologising until he left Harry's office. Harry closed his eyes and drunk a small whisky. He wondered if he had just made a monumental mistake.

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><p>Ruth had just finished eating when there was a knock on her door. Getting up, she half hoped it would be Harry and when she opened the door she felt disappointed.<p>

"What are you doing here?" she asked Chris who looked sheepish, which she had never seen on is face before. The last thing she wanted was to invite him in, but she had manners and she didn't want to discuss anything personal on her doorstep for all her neighbours to hear. "Do you want to come in?"

"No, I'll be quick," Chris said. "I wanted to apologise for the last coupe of days. I'd never have messed around with you if I'd known you were actually in a relationship with Harry. I thought it was more unrequited and unspoken between the two of you than it is, I'm really sorry.

"But…"

"He told me you're keeping it quiet. I won't say anything I promise. I just wanted to apologise. I may push my luck at times, but I don't go after women who are taken. I don't have affairs with anyone. I'm sorry."

"He told you this?" Ruth asked, keeping her voice level with difficulty.

"Yes," Chris replied honestly. "I'll go. Just wanted to let you know I won't be causing anymore problems." Ruth smiled without feeling it and then shut the door. She waited about sixty seconds to be sure he'd left the street and then she locked her house and got into her car. She was going straight to Thames House to have a word with Harry. He thought he could just tell anyone he wanted that they were in a relationship did he? He was going to get it into his thick head that what she did and who she did it with was none of his business, no matter how much he disliked it.


	8. Chapter 8

_This is the first draft so I apologise for any mistakes, but I know people are waiting for this chapter. Hope it doesn't disappoint._

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><p>Ruth slammed Harry's office door loudly as he looked up slightly shocked. "Who the hell do you think you are?" she asked in a hollow voice. "You told Chris that we're in a relationship? What the hell is wrong with you? What on earth did you think you'd possibly gain by doing that? He came over to apologise to me, for going after someone who was committed to another man, I have never been so humiliated in my entire life!"<p>

Harry sighed, knowing this was going to be a long night. "Its bad enough that I don't have you for myself. That's your choice, and while I'm not happy with it, I respect you enough not to try and change your mind from what makes you happy. But having you fawning over someone…"

"I am not fawning over anyone," Ruth interrupted.

"…Fawning over someone else right in front of me, when you know how I feel about you… Someone who is my current enemy within these four walls who is spying on all of us is behaviour I would have thought beneath someone of your integrity."

"Even if I was interested in him, which I'm not, it would be none of your business at all. If I decided to have a string of careless one night stands with every man in the building it still wouldn't be any of your business. You have no right to tell me how to run my personal life!"

"So that's how little you think of me is it?" Harry asked, his anger starting to burn. "That you'd go after my colleagues just because you could."

"Don't try and make me feel guilty," Ruth countered, still furious at him. "You don't own me. My behaviour doesn't affect you one bit!"

"Do you have any idea how much I wish your behaviour didn't affect me?" Harry said, his voice starting to get louder. "How much I wish my heart didn't race at your sudden appearance? How much I wish the sharp ache in my chest when you look at me would fade into the background just for once? How totally jealous I feel when I see you with him? It does affect me, and I don't believe you aren't perceptive enough to realise it. You're too clever for that. How do you think I feel when he kisses you in front of everyone? Its hardly a secret how I feel in regards to you."

"I didn't ask him to do that, I don't want to be kissed by him." When she stopped she realised the emphasis she'd put on the word him. As if she wanted to be kissed by someone else. "It came as much of a shock to me as it did to you."

"I doubt that," Harry said grumbling.

"Harry, you have no claim on me, in spite of our shared history," Ruth said struggling to remain calm. "What makes you think otherwise?"

"Nothing," he said. "Believe me, your rejection burns my ears every hour of the day." The hurt in his voice at her actions pushed her over the edge and she found herself shouting again.

"You proposed to me at a funeral Harry! What exactly were you expecting? You didn't tell me how you felt, you didn't say a word about us, nothing romantic at all! You haven't even kissed me in over four years and you think this is a great basis for a marriage? No wonder your first one failed!"

"That's unfair," Harry said. "You say I don't tell you how I feel? I love you. That's how I feel. I always have and I can't change that." Ruth found herself breathing heavily at the admission. The first time he said that to her and it had been thrown in an argument. That was not what she had ever wanted. While she had been thinking about that she hadn't realised he'd approached her. He was suddenly much closer to her. His eyes were burning into hers, the connection between them almost visible.

"Do you really think so little of me?" Harry asked. "To come here shouting at me for a lie I said in the heat of the moment, a lie which I wish every second of the day was the truth. I didn't say it to hurt you, I said it because I snapped." A pause as they both stared at each other. "And one more thing I'd love you to be incorrect about," Harry said. "Is the fact I haven't kissed you in four years." He closed the small gap and set his lips on hers firmly. She could feel that he wasn't going to back away even if she pushed him because he wanted to prove a point. After a second she returned the kiss fervently, adoring the feel of his lips melding against hers. The way his tongue brushed against her lips, demanding entry. Willingly she opened her mouth to his as the kiss got deeper and the embrace carried more and more meaning. She found she couldn't breathe and she parted from him reluctantly to pull oxygen back into her lungs, before resuming the wonderful touch and kiss between them.


	9. Chapter 9

Ruth woke up, her face pressed into the mattress. She turned slightly and rubbed her face with her eyes screwed shut tightly. She breathed in deeply and could smell Harry everywhere. Vague and disjointed flashes of the night before came back to her as she lay with her eyes closed. Harry pinning her to the wall of his office, his lips attacking every inch of her skin. Her legs around his waist as clothes scattered all over the floor. Panting and desire filled moans from them both as the tension of years, the heat and anger of their argument was dissolved in one passionate outburst. Her insistence that, yes, she did want to go home with him. Clothes flying everywhere for a second time. Her body pressed against his, him pushing her down into the mattress as skin lit skin with electricity. Kisses burned each other to the core, drawing sighs from him and quiet moans from her. When parted for the second time, his body covering hers, making her feel protected, even as they slipped into sleep in unison.

"Finally back in the land of the living are you?" his voice said, whispering through the layers of memory flitting in her mind.

"Mm?" she replied squinting across the bed at Harry. She now felt his hand resting on the base of her spine and enjoyed his warmth for a few long seconds. "I want you to know, this is not why I came back to the grid last night."

"No, you came to yell and shout at me," Harry reminded her.

"I was frustrated and upset and you manage to wind me up so easily," she replied.

"Its okay," he said. "If I had realised that making you shout at me had such an amorous effect on you, I should have made you angry a long time ago."

"Harry…"

"I'm kidding," he said softly. In the space between sentences he kissed her lightly, lips caressing lips in the warm cocoon their bodies made together, wrapped in the duvet. "Last night was amazing. And it had taken us far too long to get there. To get here."

"Yes it did, far too long," she agreed with half a smile. "I think I had half a point though. You can't act like you own me, now that we're together. You have to trust me."

"I do trust you," he murmured. "Seeing him with you… How would you feel if our positions were reversed?"

"Okay, I wouldn't like it and I'd be… furious actually," she admitted. He laughed and ran a hand down the length of her back, then went back up, slowly and sensually tracing the bones of her spine. Once his fingers reached her neck he pulled her in for a long slow kiss. "I love how you touch me," she admitted, blushing slightly.

"Trust you to be embarrassed by saying that after the last ten hours we've shared." She rolled over onto her back and decided it was time to wake up properly. Rubbing her face she felt warmth flood into her body as Harry put a hand on her stomach. He was inching lower and lower until Ruth pushed his hand away.

"I really don't think we have time for that."

"Mm," he agreed pressing a kiss to her collarbone. "Shame, though. I seem to remember you making very erotic noises when I did _this_." She bit down on her lip in a successful effort to stay silent. She rolled away from him and got dressed in yesterdays now very rumpled clothes as Harry watched her.

"You can't be going to work in that," he said indicating the creases.

"I have a spare change of clothes at work," Ruth said walking through to the bathroom trying to sort her hair out. "With my coat on, no one will notice until I get changed."

"Too damn practical," Harry cursed silently. "I'd planned on spending another hour or two with you in bed and turning up late."

"Hmm, and what would Chris report to your boss about that?" Ruth asked catching his eyes in the mirror. "My boss seems susceptible to my many charms, I doubt yours would be."

"Why are you always right?" Harry asked rhetorically as he got out of bed and started to get dressed. He didn't see the way Ruth studied his body before material was drawn over him. He didn't see the flush of her cheeks and the sparkle of her eyes as she looked up and down his chest. If he had, they would have been much later to work that morning, and damn the consequences to anyone or anything else.


	10. Chapter 10

Ruth was as good as her word. As soon as she arrived at work she picked up some clothes from her desk and quickly vanished to the bathroom. When she came back out, not a hair looked out of place, Harry thought, watching her through the blinds. Although he did have repetitive flashes of her head thrown back against his office wall, completely lost in the throes of passion, ecstasy written clearly all over her pale and beautiful face. He smiled as he switched his computer on and started to read Christopher Millers report on section D. The report Tariq had hacked from him last night. Pleased that he'd got one over on Chris he continued to read the report. Harry was shocked by how accurate it was. There wasn't a negative spin on it like he had expected. Phrases such as "section D is a well functioning, although close knit team," seemed to ring true. When it moved into "because it is so close knit, the efficiency of this section is much higher than others I have observed," Harry wondered if he'd judged Chris too harshly. Then he remembered his and Ruth's fight the night before and judged it to be supremely worth it, even if he had got the wrong end of a very large stick.

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><p>Ruth had a quick look in the one make up mirror she carried. Even after the night she'd had, she was pleased to see that her 24 hour long lasting mascara actually had lived up to its name. "I never had you down as one of those women," Chris said as she snapped the mirror shut.<p>

"You don't have me down as anything," Ruth said with a sly and suggestive smile.

"I made a resolution not to flirt with you anymore," Chris said. "Help me achieve this."

"Fine," she agreed happily, beginning to type.

"I meant what I said, I am sorry about… everything."

"You don't have to apologise," Ruth said quietly. "It wasn't… as sure as Harry made it sound."

"Wasn't?" Chris questioned, picking up on the correct word which gave it away.

"Does twenty four hours really matter in the grand scheme of things?"

"Apparently not to you," Chris said. He made sure that no one was listening before adding something. "You're a bad liar for a spook. You've got a… satisfied look all over your face."

Ruth blushed furiously but whatever she was about to say was driven from her mind as some pictures popped up on her screen. "Oh my God," she said, her jaw hanging open. Chris looked over at her screen and saw several shots of several different dead bodies, all young women, all very bloody, very graphic and completely horrific.

"Where did those photo's come from?" Chris asked. Ruth clicked to minimise the images and ran through the list of terror suspects she had been checking.

"Ashmal Taylor Farhadi, a half Iranian half British twenty five year old living in a hole in east London. It was just a routine check and these photo's come up."

"How much encryption did you break to have a look at what information he was hiding?" Chris asked accurately.

"Okay, yes, I've gotten into his computer history illegally, but now, do you think he might be a criminal?"

"Well it doesn't look good, either way," Chris said. "Oh. And I won't report you for illegal surveillance."

"Right now, I don't care if you do," Ruth said shaking her head in half horror half bewilderment. "These need to be given to the London murder squad," she said surely. "Which means I have to have a conversation with Harry." Ruth hit print, making sure that no one else saw the horrible photos she was producing. She slipped them in a file and hurried to Harry's office.

Meanwhile Harry felt his heart sink to the basement. In a matter of minutes he had watched Ruth's face go from happy joy to pale and worried, and then finally horrified. All from a conversation with Chris. Was she regretting it between them already? The way she hurried to his office made it clear that she had something to discuss with him. He decided that sitting down would probably be best for this conversation.

Ruth slid the door shut and he braced himself for the unpleasantness that was about to come his way. He did catch the way she looked at the wall and then her eyes slipped to the floor blushing. "Before you say anything," Harry said. "I can see how unhappy you are. I am sorry if you're rethinking everything. Believe me it isn't what I want." He stopped simply because Ruth's fingers covered his lips firmly.

"Contrary to popular belief, not everything I do or think about involves you. I actually have a job to do here."

"You look so pale and horrified," he said sadly, moving her fingers but keeping her hand entwined with his.

"You want to know why?" she asked. "My face isn't about you." She silently put the file on his desk facing him and opened it.

"Jesus Christ," Harry hissed seeing all the pictures of the murdered girls. Judging by the way their clothes had been ripped she would guess they'd been raped as well. Harry briefly flipped through them all and shut the file quickly. "Where did you get them?"

"Hacked into an Iranians computer," Ruth said. "The problem is, I got them illegally, so it would be nice if you could call in a favour or two, so this man could be arrested without me being sacked."

"Of course I will," Harry said, already reaching for the phone. He paused when Ruth reached over and kissed his lips softly, and rather disappointingly, chastely.

"Harry? No regrets, and I never will," she reassured him. With a final squeeze of his hand she left his office, pushing the door shut with a quiet whoosh. Harry looked at the horrific images she'd left once more before getting on the phone and calling in a few favours.


	11. Chapter 11

Chris picked up his phone and dialled the number to give a status report. He was outside, on the roof of Thames House because he did not want to be overheard. "Yes," he said as the phone was answered. "I think they are okay."

"I need you to be one hundred percent sure about this," the male voice said.

"I am sure," Chris replied. "Ruth Evershed has an easy face to read."

"Okay. Then use your exit strategy and get out of there, to leave them to it. I don't want my involvement public knowledge."

"It was actually relatively easy," Chris said. "Harry Pearce got insanely jealous of me."

"I thought he would. That was why this plan was going to work in the first place."

"I do feel a little guilty," Chris said. "I mean, pushing them together like that."

"Calm down. You were only acting on the feelings that were already there. They both wanted it, you know that."

"Mm," Chris replied. "It was actually quite fun. Thanks Malcolm." Malcolm put the phone down and smiled. He finally felt like he had atoned for driving them apart in the first place all those years before. He never should have opened his mouth, but at least now they were together as they should have been years before. He hoped the next time he had a conversation with Harry, the subject would be much happier than the drunk rambling over Ruth last time. Malcolm smiled as he went outside into the unusual early morning sunshine at home. Everything was right with the world at last.

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><p><em>I love this way of finishing the story off so this is the last (albeit small) chapter. Hope you've enjoyed!<em>


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